Apparatus for cutting and mixing sand.



V. E. MINICH.

APPARATUS FOR CUTTING AND MIXING SAND. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 18. 1913.

1 139 3620 A Patented May 11, 1915.

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WITNESSES //v1//v TOR V. ErMlNlCH.

APPARATUS FOR CUTTING AND MIXING SAND.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. Is. 1913.

fmwfifi o Patnted May 11, 1915, k I 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2. @T,2.

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VERNE E. MINICH, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO SAND HIKING MANHINE COMPANY, OF GREENFIELD, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

APPARATUS FOR CUTTING AND MIXING SAND.

menace. 4

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 111, 19115.

Application filed September 18, 1913. Serial No. 790,400.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, VERNE E. MINIOH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Cutting and Mixing Sand, of which the following isa specification.

This invention relates to apparatus for cutting or mixing sand used in foundries and is particularly adapted for mixing the sand used in making the molds in which metal is cast.

The invention more particularly relates to that type of sand cutters or mixers that travel over the heap of sand, cut and mix it and leave it in a condition ready for use by the molders and in this type of apparatus it has heretofore been the universal practice to have the cutting or mixing apparatus mounted on road wheels that engage and travel over the ground on'which the sand lies. In some cases however, owing to the unevenness of the foundry floor or to shop practice, the use of the above type of travel ing sand-cutting machine is impractical from an operating standpoint as well as owing to the wear and tear on the machine.

The object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus which will travel over the sand heap, cut and mix it and at the .same time avoid the often impractical feature of having the apparatus on road wheels, thereby permitting the apparatus to be used in foundries where the ordinary type of traveling sand cutter cannot be installed.

A further object is to attain increased flexibility in apparatus for cutting and mixing sand in foundries.

Most foundries, especially the larger ones, at the present time are equipped with traveling or bridge cranes, the general construction and operation of which are now well known and in the preferred manner of carrying my invention into practice I utilize such cranes in my present form of apparatus made the subject of this invention.

The invention consists in the improved traveling sand-cutting or mixing apparatus hereinafter more particularly described and specified in the claims as well as in the details of construction and combinations of parts set forth herein.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a side elevation and partial section of a sand-cutting or mixing apparatus constructed and organized in accordance with th1s 1nvention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the cutt ng or mixing apparatus with its actuatmg parts. Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1.

.The cutting and mixing device is suspended from and transported by an overhead traveling carriage which moves the cutting and mixing device in any desired direction and to any part of the floor space at the will of an operator who has control of the movements of the carriage as well as the actuation and operation 'of the cutting and mixing device. By preference the traveling carriage is in the forinof a bridge crane, the construction and operation of which is now well known.

In the accompanying drawings the crane, forming the overhead carriage, is typified in outline in which 1 indicates the longitudinal rails (but one rail being represented) and 2 indicates the bridge which spans the rails and travels on Wheels 3.

4 indicates the trolley of any desired construction and from which the sand-cutting and mixing device is suspended. T he traveling movements of the trolley and the bridge as well as the raising and lowering of the cutting device is controlled by an operator in any desired manner, such manipulation of a crane being now so well known that any further description is deemed unnecessary and therefore dispensed with.

5 indicates a metallic casing having a platform 6 and suspended from the trolley f by means of any suitable tackle 7. I

8 indicates a motor, preferably electric, for driving the sand-cutting and mixing blades and which is mounted on the platform 6 within the casing 5 to protect it from flying sand and dirt.

9 indicates a shaft suitably journaled in casings 10 and 11 extending downwardly and rearwardlyfrom the casing 5 at each side thereof. The casings 10 and 11 are each preferably closed by a plate 12 and each forms a housing for any suitable form or type of driving connection between the motor 8 and shaft 9. In the construction illustrated the driving of the shaft 9 is effected by a train of gears 13 connecting each end of the shaft 9 to each end of a counter-shaft 14 mounted transversely of the platform 6. The counter-shaft 14 is operatively connected to and driven by the motor 8 through any desired connection as for instance the gear and pinion 16. It will be understood that the invention is not limited to any particular manner of--driving the cutter shaft 9 from the motor 8.

The cutting and mixing device comprises cutting blades 16 preferably secured to the shaft 9 and is preferably in the form of a drum or cylinder rotary driven from the counter-shaft 14. The cutting or mixing cylinder is made up of a number of the blades 16 preferably arranged in two sets and so shaped that in revolving they will ,States patent granted to W. G.

throw the sand upward and toward the center as shown and described in the United stockhamg No. 823,710, although it will be understood]! that the invention is not limited to this pa? ticular type of cutting and mixing device.

17 indicates a compartment formed along one end ofthe casing 5 remote from the cutting drum or cylinder. Ballast of any kind to the desired weight is placed in this compartment to adjust the position of the cutting cylinder and prevent its weight (located at one side of the point of suspension) from tipping the platform and casing.

In the drawings it is assumed that the sand to be cut and mixed and indicated at A is dumped in aline or row substantially transverse of the tracks 1 although it will be understood that it may be disposed longitudinally thereof or in any convenient direction underneath the crane. The operator drops the platform down until the cutting cylinder enters the sand heap, the cylinder having started to revolve by actuation of the motor 8. As the sand is tossed backward the operator causes the cylinder to cut down farther into the heap and also to travel along it by actuating the trolley 4. If the sand heap is disposed longitudinally of the rails the cutting cylinder and platform will be turned ninety degrees to the position shown and the device moved through the sand heap by the travel of the bridge 2.

It will be understood that the construction herein specifically set forth is for the purpose of illustration only and that the invention is not limited thereto.

What I claim as my invention is 1. In an'apparatus for cutting or mixing sand, the combination of an overhead traveling carriage and a rotary cutter or mixer comprising oppositely curved blades suspended from said carriage and adapted to travel through a sand heap located beneath the carriage.

2. In a sand-cutting and mixing apparatus, the combination of a crane, a platform suspended from said crane and adapted to be raised and lowered, a motor mounted on said platform and rotary sand-cutting or mixing blades mounted on said platform and operatively connected to said motor.

3. In an apparatus vfor cutting or mixing sand, the combination of a traveling crane, a casing suspended from said crane, a motor mounted within said casing and a cutting or mixing cylinder carried by said crane and operatively connected to said motor.

4. In an apparatus for cutting or mixing sand, the combination of a crane, a casing suspended from said crane and adapted to be raised and lowered, a motor mounted within said casing, ,a cutting or mixing cylindercarried by said casing and projecting beneath the same, said cylinder being rotatively driven by said motorand a compartment in said casing adapted to receive ballast to adjust the position of said cylinder.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 16th day of Sept. A. D. 1913.

VERNE E. MINICH.

Witnesses:

F. B. TOWNSEND, H. C. STAMP. 

